Mike Dunford is a graduate student in the Department of Zoology at the University of Hawaii, Manoa, where he studies evolution. He's also a contributer to The Pandas Thumb. As is the case with everyone else here, his opinions are his own, and do not necessarily represent those of any organization he is affiliated with.
October 31, 2007
Category: Philanthropy
If you are one of the many people who was trying to contribute to the Scienceblogs.com DonorsChoose challenge today, you should know that there's one person you can blame for the trouble you had accessing the site: right-wing spinmeister...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 8:20 PM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
October 30, 2007
Category: "Supporting" the Troops
Seriously, though, Peake certainly has the qualifications to run the VA. He's a West Pointer, he is a combat veteran who served in the infantry and was wounded twice in Vietnam, he's a medical doctor, and he was the Surgeon General of the United States Army. As a nominee for VA Secretary, he's an absolute slam dunk. Or would be, anyway, if it wasn't for one very small problem: his old address.
Posted by Mike Dunford at 9:42 PM • 6 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Philanthropy
We're now in the last two days of the DonorsChoose Bloggers' Challenge. As things currently stand, this blog is now $88 away from my $2,500 fundraising goal. Unfortunately, we've been more or less stalled for the last couple of...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 10:11 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
October 29, 2007
Category: Personal
Here's a quote for you. It's one of the ones that should make you wonder whether you should laugh or cry: And, doubtless, my going on this whaling voyage, formed part of the grand programme of Providence that was...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 4:10 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
October 24, 2007
Category: 2008
Several days ago, Senator (and longshot Presidential candidate) Christopher Dodd (D-CT) made some news by promising to do whatever he could to block any legislation that would retroactively grant immunity to telecommunications companies that cooperated with President Bush's warrentless...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 2:04 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
October 22, 2007
Category: Bipartisan
Here are a few numbers from the latest Reuters-Zogby poll. See if you can find the one that's not like the others: Rated President Bush's performance as excellent or good: 25% Rated Congress' performance as excellent or good: 11%...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 8:53 PM • 6 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
October 21, 2007
Category: Truly Misc
The Skeptical Alchemist tagged me with the Pharyngula Mutating Meme - a series of questions that can change as they get passed from blogger to blogger according to a set of simple rules. The original questions were: 1. The...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 4:20 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
October 20, 2007
Category: From the Right
Google news is currently featuring a comment by Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) on the House of Representatives' failed attempt to override President Bush's veto of the SCHIP expansion. The comment reads in part: "I remain committed to working with...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 11:53 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
October 17, 2007
Category: Public Perception of Science
James Watson is many things. He's a noted scientist. He is the co-discoverer of the double helix structure of DNA. He runs a major research institute. He's a Nobel Laureate. He's also living proof that you can be a...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 6:51 PM • 37 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
October 16, 2007
Category: Personal
Our Coach Pitch baseball team just played the first game of the season. We had a very good game; the other team had a slightly better game. Everyone had fun, though, which is the key. A few quick thoughts...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 8:48 PM • 7 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: "Supporting" the Troops
I am certainly no fan of the Iraq war, but I found it difficult to read the media reports about retired Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez's recent comments on the war without getting angry. Reading the full text of his...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 10:11 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
October 15, 2007
Category: For the environment
Since today is Blog Action Day, it seems like a good day for a post I've been meaning to write for a while now - what my family is doing to reduce our impact on the environment, and what...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 10:58 AM • 7 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Science and Politics
Apparently, Matt Nisbet didn't think that one poorly-reasoned critique of Gore's ability to communicate science was enough for the weekend, because he tossed out another a day later. You might recall that in his first critique, Nisbet claimed that...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 8:34 AM • 8 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
October 14, 2007
Category: Do Something
Education takes money. It takes education to close skill gaps. It takes skills to close income gaps. In the United States, it takes income to live somewhere that provides quality education. The children who live in areas that don't provide quality education have a hard time learning skills. Without skills, they don't earn a lot of income. Without income, they have a hard time living somewhere that provides a quality education. Without education...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 1:22 PM • 2 Comments •
October 12, 2007
This week's DonorsChoose update is a short one. We're still doing well here - $2278 has been donated, which puts us well on our way to meeting our goal for the third time. I've added new proposals, again mostly...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 5:13 PM • 0 Comments •
Category: From the Right
(He didn't do it on purpose, of course.) According to Bill-O, the world would be a scary, scary, scary place if Edwards is elected president: Remember, no coerced interrogation, civilian lawyers in courts for captured overseas terrorists, no branding...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 1:19 PM • 2 Comments •
Category: Public Perception of Science
As you are undoubtedly aware, this year's Nobel Peace Prize is being split between the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and Al Gore, in recognition of "their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change,...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 12:20 PM • 17 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
October 11, 2007
Category: Democratic
It looks like Nancy Pelosi might be getting just a wee bit frustrated with the Democratic base. It also looks like she's got a lack of understanding of the proper relationship between politicians and the people that sorely needs...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 9:49 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
October 9, 2007
Category: "Supporting" the Troops
A little after 7 am on 27 November, 2004, Lt. Colonel Michael McMahon and Chief Warrant Officer Travis Grogan boarded a small twin-engine airplane in Bagram, Afghanistan. The plane, which also had a cargo of 400 pounds of mortar...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 12:51 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
October 8, 2007
Category: Iraq and US Politics
According to the LA Times, the family of an Iraqi guard killed by a Blackwater employee on Christmas Eve has not yet received any compensation for the man's death. The reason? The office of Iraq's Vice President, which employed...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 10:16 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Medicine
One of the alleged facts that President Bush loves to point at when he's trying to justify his veto of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP) expansion is that the new bill would have allowed New York to...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 11:24 AM • 26 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
October 5, 2007
Category: Arthropods
Last week, I had a picture of a live spider for you to identify. Most of the guesses came quickly, and were absolutely correct - the spider in the picture was a Spiny-Backed Orbweaver. This week's arthropod might be...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 3:32 PM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Politics
I've spent part of this morning doing some fairly serious research on health insurance in the United States, and who doesn't have it. My curiosity on the subject was stirred up by a couple of things: after looking at...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 10:47 AM • 16 Comments •
October 4, 2007
Category: Philanthropy
Earlier today, I raised the goal for my DonorsChoose challenge from $1588 to $2000. More of you donated, and within just a couple of hours we pulled to within $0.35 of the $2K mark. I've upped the goal by...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 11:00 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Philanthropy
The response to my DonorsChoose challenge continues to be outstanding. Earlier today, we passed the $1,588 that I had set as my initial goal for the drive. Since there are still 27 days left in the challenge, I went...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 6:15 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Philanthropy
These kids don't have pencils and paper. If that doesn't make you mad, I don't know what would. Pencils and bloody paper. What the hell are we doing as a nation when we've got public school teachers who have to rely on the generosity of strangers to get pencils and paper for their students. What does that say about us. The White House has an annual budget of $300 million. The legislative branch spends $3,700 million of our dollars on itself every year. But teachers have to write proposals and hope that individual Americans will be generous enough to help them make sure that their students have pencils and paper???
Posted by Mike Dunford at 1:19 PM • 2 Comments •
October 3, 2007
Category: Science, Policy, and Management
There are times when I wish I was a right-wing hack. If I was, I could let the title of this post stand just as it is, and attack the President for his lack of support for military families....
Posted by Mike Dunford at 6:51 PM • 2 Comments •
October 2, 2007
Category: From the Left
Several Democrats in the House of Representatives unveiled a revolutionary plan today that would radically change the way we are paying for the war in Iraq. Their shocking plan has been strongly condemned by Republicans around the country, and...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 9:24 PM • 12 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Philanthropy
For those of you who haven't looked over at the sidebar, the DonorsChoose campaign is off to a start that far exceeded my wildest expectations. Yesterday, five donors kicked in an outstanding $687.06. That's more in one day than...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 10:46 AM • 5 Comments •
October 1, 2007
Category: Philanthropy
DonorsChoose is a fantastic organization. Individual teachers submit proposals for things they'd like to do in their classroom, but can't afford to do. People can go to DonorsChoose, pick projects that they like, and donate money directly to those...
Posted by Mike Dunford at 10:21 AM • 5 Comments •
